Court action filed over padlocked Palm House

Tuesday

A civil complaint filed in circuit court Tuesday sheds more light on the ownership dispute that since Monday night has kept the doors chained and padlocked at the Palm House hotel condominium.

The complaint seeks emergency court relief on behalf of the Palm House’s ownership company against defendant Ryan A. Black. The complaint describes Black as a minority owner and "former manager" of Palm House LLC. That entity controls the limited liability company that owns the property at 160 Royal Palm Way, which has been under renovation for eight years.

A court date had not been set as of late Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, both sides were involved in "ongoing talks" to resolve the matter, plaintiff attorney Leslie R. Evans of Palm Beach said Thursday.

Harry Winderman, an attorney for Black, said he did not have any comment about whether talks were taking place. Black had not been served with the complaint, so Winderman said he could not comment on its allegations.

The complaint claims Black, although aware that he had been removed as manager of Palm House LLC on Monday, made an unauthorized entry onto the property and "thereafter occupied the premises."

Black also removed computerized records concerning the hotel, the complaint said. The court document described the data as valuable "trade secret information, including business records, financial information, client lists and proprietary information."

The complaint asks the court to bar Black from the property and to require him to surrender possession of the hotel and of "all property, information and assets seized."

Black owns 1 percent of the "membership interests" in the company, according to the complaint, while the other 99 percent is controlled by a single owner. The hotel’s majority owner was identified in a police report filed Tuesday as Gerry Matthews, who has a home in Connecticut. He is the brother of former Palm House owner and developer Robert V. Matthews, who lost the hotel in a 2009 foreclosure action.

The complaint claims that earlier this month, Black traveled to Connecticut to "compel" the majority owner to turn the 99-percent interests over to him or his designee "or else face unspecified consequences." The deadline was Monday, according to the complaint.

That same day, the majority owner voted to remove Black as manager, the complaint said. Black then padlocked the hotel and hired private security to bar workers from the premises, according to the complaint.

Although called to the hotel property twice on Tuesday, police determined that the dispute was a civil matter rather than a criminal action. The doors at 160 Royal Palm Way remained padlocked as of late Thursday afternoon.

Renovations at the Palm House have been delayed multiple times under different owners since 2006. The property has accrued more than $1 million in town fines.